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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29303841">To Be First</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/'>Anonymous</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>the old gods have retired; chosen enter stage left [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Minecraft (Video Game)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Gods &amp; Goddesses, Gen, Sleepy Bois Inc Angst, Sleepy Bois Inc as Family, Sleepy Bois Inc as Royalty, Technoblade-centric (Video Blogging RPF), Twins Wilbur Soot &amp; Technoblade, Wilbur Soot and Technoblade and TommyInnit are Siblings, no beta we die like george in manhunt</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 07:47:14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>12,373</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29303841</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Technoblade was the Crown Prince of the Antarctic Empire, he was the first Nether Chosen in over 40 years, he was... Technoblade. </p><p>A look into the childhood of the Sleepy Princes before they joined the Dream SMP, their struggles and triumphs through life, and how they got to where they are. </p><p>-<br/>"So I might have just been Chosen by the Nether Goddess."</p><p>*This is part of a series, you might not understand what's happening if you read this one first but do what you want*</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Clay | Dream &amp; GeorgeNotFound &amp; Sapnap (Video Blogging RPF) (background), Clay | Dream &amp; Technoblade (Video Blogging RPF) (background), Jschlatt &amp; Wilbur Soot, Niki | Nihachu &amp; Wilbur Soot, Phil Watson/His Wife, Toby Smith | Tubbo &amp; TommyInnit, Wilbur Soot &amp; Technoblade, Wilbur Soot &amp; Technoblade &amp; TommyInnit, Wilbur Soot/Sally the Salmon</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>the old gods have retired; chosen enter stage left [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2152170</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>96</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Anonymous</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>To Be First</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Per the traditions of the Antarctic Kingdom, the queen was to name the heir to the throne. Women would agonize over books filled with names of warriors and mighty heroes of legends, some would even consult the Old Gods in hopes they would bless the queen with a name for the child.</p><p>When Kristin announced her pregnancy to Phil in the year following their wedding he told her the expectation that she would be solely responsible for naming the child.</p><p>She had smirked from her lounging chair by the fire at the words, her worn copy of <em> The Art of War </em>snapping shut in her fingers as she looked over at her husband.</p><p>“It’s insulting that you think I don’t already have a name.” Her features were sharpened by the glowing embers of the fire. Phil wasn’t intimidated by his wife’s bluntness, instead choosing to take the chair next to her and resume reading his book on Calls.</p><p>Having twins was a surprise, to say the least, but not an unwelcome one. Kristin had been set on the name Technoblade for the eldest since before she learned she was pregnant, she and Phil talked over the possible names for the younger twin and settled on Wilbur.</p><p>The boys were inseparable in their youth, the only distinguishing features between the two being the different eye colors. Their personalities were a different matter altogether, the two boys being as similar as possible in an… opposite sort of way.</p><p>Techno preferred the fighting classes enforced into their schedules while Wilbur enjoyed the more refined arts like music. Both enjoyed casual reading immensely, although Techno wanted to read fantasy while Wilbur read music theory.</p><p>The twins remember when their mom had Tommy, the baby never stopped crying and the house was never quiet anymore. Phil had his duties as co-ruler of the kingdom, and Kristin still retained her old job as head of the guard when she became queen, leaving them both very busy.</p><p>The responsibility of raising Tommy fell to the twins when the nannies couldn’t make him stop crying. Wilbur was a natural with him, singing song after song to soothe Tommy into silence.</p><p>-</p><p>Life was okay for the next two years as the three boys grew, beloved by all the kingdom as their Sleepy Princes. Techno had grown out his hair and Wilbur embraced his own style with hopes that he would never have to take the throne from Techno, content to dress like the commoners in the village below their castle.</p><p>It was that year, when Techno was nine, that his whole world changed. A group of pillagers raided the castle when the co-ruler was on a trip, leaving just Phil and Kristin to watch over the castle.</p><p>“Phil, listen to me—take Tommy and Techno and go to the safe room!” His mom’s voice was stern as she gripped Phil by the shoulders and looked him in the eyes. A fierce determination rested on her face, one Techno hoped he would master in later years.</p><p>“Kristin, forget the guards they can handle themselves! Come with us!” Phil’s wings bristled behind him, like the thought of Kristin going off was the most horrible thing.</p><p>“I have to go find Wilbur, Phil. We’ll be there as soon as we can, stay alive for us, okay?” She pulled Techno into the hug she was sharing with Phil, Tommy quiet in Phil’s arms for once in his life.</p><p>“I love you.”</p><p>“I love you, too.”</p><p>He wishes he would have said it too, as she ran in the opposite direction as them, heading for the music halls Wilbur had no doubt been in when the attacks started. How was he to know that hug would be the last time he touched her? Maybe if he knew he would have held on a little longer, would have held on a little tighter… Phil gripped his hand tight as they ran to the safe room.</p><p>They sat in the dark for what felt like hours, listening to the destruction of the castle commence around them as they passed Tommy between them to keep him quiet and occupied. His mom and Wilbur had not come, not even by the time Phil’s personal guards came to tell them the pillagers had been cleared from the castle.</p><p>“I’m sure they’re fine, Techno. There’s more than one safe room in the castle for a reason,” his father’s smile was a little too tense, a little too forced. Techno just held Tommy tighter in his arms.</p><p>“Your Majesty, there’s a commotion in the music hall. The knights believe your son has barricaded the doors, he refuses to come out.” Phil took off in the direction of the music hall, Techno on his heels.</p><p>The distinct feeling of <em>wrong </em>filled the air before they turned the last corner, the knights having thought to try and force the doors open and Wilbur taking to screaming inside.</p><p>Phil’s presence stopped the knights’ actions but Wilbur refused to stop screaming even when Phil told him <em> “it’s okay, son,” </em> and <em> “the raiders are gone.” </em></p><p>As much as Phil didn’t want to traumatize his son further he wouldn’t come out of the hall, so the knights resumed their efforts to open the heavy doors.</p><p>When the doors finally relented their hold and swung open… Techno wishes they would have stayed closed.</p><p>The hall was a bloody massacre. Bodies were strewn out, at least twenty just from the brief glimpse Techno had gotten. Wilbur stood in the middle of the massacre, blood ruining the green sweater he was wearing and a vacant look in his eyes as if he hadn’t registered anyone entering the hall.</p><p>“Wilbur?” Phil took a hesitant step towards his son, mindful of the blood staining the tile flooring but eyes dead-set on his child.</p><p>“She held them off… locked us in here… she called it a fair fight even though it was all of them against her,” Wilbur’s eyes drifted up to look at his father as if seeing him for the first time. His bottom lip quivered as tears rolled down his cheeks, “She looked like one of the heroes in her bedtime stories she told us… but the last one—” he choked on the next word, pushing through for his father’s sake. “The last one… he shot her, and she killed him before she fell too. Dad…” The sound of pure anguish that ripped through Wilbur’s throat sprung tears to Techno’s eyes. Tommy’s lip began to quiver even though the child was oblivious to the fact that their family had just been torn apart forever.</p><p>Phil gathered Wilbur in his arms, uncaring anymore of the blood on his clothing as Wilbur collapsed and with a panicked expression, fainted. Techno walked over to his family, having passed Tommy off to one of the knights outside the door with a fierce look only the Crown Prince of the Antarctic Kingdom could manage at the tender age of nine.</p><p>His mother was an angel even in death. Her eyes vacant of life, an arrow protruding from her stomach, blood pooled beneath her body. Wilbur hadn’t strayed far from where she fell, likely too in shock from witnessing so much death to do anything functional.</p><p>“She’s gone, dad. What are we going to do?” His voice had never been so small before. As the heir, Techno had learned from a young age to speak with the confidence of a future king and nothing less.</p><p>Phil, still holding an unconscious Wilbur close to him, as if that would help him keep his composure over his dead wife looked to Techno with a sad, broken smile. “We live for her.”</p><p>-</p><p>Nothing felt real in the castle anymore, the royals and knights and even the servants simply going through the motions of life. They’d buried his mom the previous day, four days after the pillager attack, in an attempt to make her more presentable and allow the servants to start cleaning the wreckage of the music hall and the rest of the castle.</p><p>
  <em> “Her Royal Majesty, Queen Kristin Minecraft. As we lay you to rest the snow falls around us, as if the sky weeps for your loss. Our fearless Captain, our valorous Queen, we bid you our final farewell from this world, but we keep you in our hearts forever. We hope that End will guide you safely to the Land Beyond. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> In her death, Her Royal Majesty leaves behind her husband, His Royal Majesty, King Philza Minecraft, and her three children, His Royal Highness, Crown Prince Technoblade Minecraft, His Royal Highness, Prince Wilbur Soot Minecraft, and His Royal Highness, Prince Thomas Innit Minecraft.” </em>
</p><p>It had been a beautiful service, truly. Wilbur was still recovering from seeing his mom die and Tommy was too young to comprehend what a funeral was, but Techno knew his mom would have loved it. The white and blue flowers that covered every inch of her coffin made the scene look ethereal.</p><p>The co-ruler had returned to the grim scene of the villages in mourning, and Phil locked in the West Wing of the castle with no hopes of running the kingdom in his current state of despair. The man bid his condolences to Phil, holding his old friend through the traitorous tears that escaped.</p><p>The nannies had resumed trying to watch over Tommy, understanding that the child wouldn’t have proper supervision otherwise. They suffered through his babbling and crying, soothing him through different means.</p><p>Wilbur was a shell of a person, having been assigned a therapist to speak to, it was just a matter of time before he would hopefully return to some semblance of who he was.</p><p>It took another year before Techno became fed up with his grief. He was tired of missing his mother, of missing her smiles and stories, of missing the way she practiced sword movements even when she knew he was spying on her. He missed her, utterly and completely. And she was never coming back.</p><p>“That’s not true, Techno. Your mother lives in every aspect of our lives, from the way Tommy curses at dinner despite the fact he’s three, to… to the refrigerator in the kitchens!” The joke didn’t even make him smile. Wilbur, having been in therapy for the past year and getting better, chuckled at the thought of his mother, <em> a fridge</em>.</p><p>“I met a gardener here on the grounds today, dad. He said his name is Jonathan, and he’s fifteen. I don’t really know why he kept talking to me, he probably thought I was an annoying little kid, but then I remembered I was the prince and he probably thought I could get him fired if he stopped talking to me.” Wilbur’s expression turned contemplative for a second as he stuffed mutton into his mouth before turning to look back at his dad. “Would he get fired for not talking to me?”</p><p>Phil smiled at his son, holding his concern for Techno aside for just a moment to focus on one of the rare occasions where Wilbur would become this open again. “No, he wouldn’t get fired. But it would be rude of him not to talk to you, and I’m sure he didn’t find you annoying, or you would have been able to tell.”</p><p>Jonathan was one of the ‘legacy’ staff members, Phil having hired on his father before his weak heart took him out three years prior and Jonathan picked up the work in his father’s absence. Phil had been fortunate enough to witness the young gardener’s interactions with some of the older condescending staff, and they were amusing, to say the least.</p><p>
  <em> “You think I don’t know the difference between the Annabelle hydrangeas the king ordered for the North Hall, and Chinese snowballs?” The little ram-hybrid’s face twisted as if the man before him had just told him he’d brought in a horse instead of a tamed wolf to the castle. “I mean, I get they both have big heads, like the one you so obviously think you have to match your ego with, and they’re low maintenance… I can imagine you’re not, but they grow in completely different sections of the gardens, and I know my way around the gardens better than anyone else here.” Before the man could even speak again, whether to apologize or continue arguing, the other boy was off again, spouting facts about the layout of the garden and how his father had it down to a T when he passed. “Let me spell it out for you, okay? For the hydrangeas that were requested, all I had to do was hop over to the Hydrangea section and find the one marked ‘Hydrangea arborescens.’ Chinese snowballs are seven rows to the left under ‘Viburnum macroephalum.’ So, why would I go through all the trouble of grabbing the wrong plant, if it wasn’t in the damn row?” </em>
</p><p>
  <em> A couple of hours later when Phil walked down the North Hall, the Annabelle hydrangeas sat in every windowsill, just as he requested. </em>
</p><p>“Well, that’s a relief, since I told him I would be back to talk with him again tomorrow. I quite enjoy his company.”</p><p>-</p><p>Later that night, long after dinner ended and Tommy had been put down to sleep, Techno walked out to the training yard. It was devoid of any life, no knights would train in the dead of night… except for his mother, and she was gone.</p><p>Her signature axe had been polished and displayed in a case at the edge of the yard. <em> ‘Her Royal Majesty, Queen Kristin Minecraft - Axe of Peace’. </em>He knew the name was an oxymoron, for how could a weapon of destruction bring peace? But it was hers, if she had been given more time on this world she would have figured out a way to make it a literal statement.</p><p>Techno opened the case with as much care as he could, his fingers trembling from the slight chill in the air, and definitely not from his nerves. “Mama, I hope you don’t mind me borrowing this, just for a little while.”</p><p>The axe was heavy in his hands, here he was, nearly eleven, and trying to wield one of the most powerful weapons in their world. He shifted his weight to his left foot, finding a steady balance, brought the axe above his head, and swung down.</p><p>Down… down… into the deep dark where nothing and everything existed all at once. Techno tried to gasp for breath and found himself choking on the heavy smoke in the air instead.</p><p><em> You won’t need to breathe here, boy. It’ll do you well to not hack up a lung while I’m trying to get things done around here. All right? </em>Techno whirled around to face the ancient, powerful voice. The woman that stood before him wasn’t like anyone he’d ever seen before, her hair was as black as charcoal and she wore netherite armor. The tips of her hair were singed too, smoke pouring from her mouth every time she opened it.</p><p>The Nether Goddess.</p><p>Of course, Techno knew who she was. After he moved out of his fantasy phase in books he started up on mythology and legends. One of his favorite books was just a collection of paintings done of the Old Gods by this one painter in Hypixel who’d somehow convinced them to sit down and have him paint them.</p><p>He sometimes thought the Nether Goddess looked more like a dragon than End herself, with the smoke and fire aspect of her very essence. But End was not only the Mother of Dragons, she was the Goddess of Time and Space, her being captured her celestial duties more than her fantastical counterparts.</p><p>“Not that I’m not flattered by the whole ‘meeting a God’ thing, cause that’s pretty cool, but uh... what am I doing here?” The Goddess quirked an eyebrow at him, that he noticed at once rested above ruby-red eyes.</p><p><em> Perhaps I waited a while before doing this, but I’m a bit rusty, all right? It’s been... fifty years since the last time I Chose someone, so cut me a little slack for thinking you could handle the process better as a preteen than a baby. </em> Techno gaped at her explanation.</p><p>“I’m being Chosen?”</p><p>
  <em> That is what I just said. Did I muddle your memory retainment ability during the trip over? Anyhow, yes, Technoblade, I’ve had my eye on you for quite some time to Choose you. I was looking for a good moment when... suddenly the veil between you and I just lifted and I was able to reach you quite easily. </em>
</p><p>“And what’s that supposed to mean?” The Goddess’ ancient eyes flickered down to the axe still resting in his hand, it had been brought with him.</p><p>
  <em> You wield the Axe of Peace. It is one of the few Admin weapons still out in the known worlds today, and it tears rifts between our realms. You should be more careful where you swing that thing. </em>
</p><p>Techno looked down to the purple axe in his hand, the enchantments glowing vibrantly and enhancing the weapon. His mother had wielded one of the most powerful weapons ever created, and then just not told anyone? What other secrets had she taken to her grave?</p><p>“All right, so you’re Choosing me. What does that mean for me?” The Goddess raised an eyebrow at him again, like she had forgotten mortals were curious creatures by nature.</p><p>
  <em> It means, little mortal, that you will have the power to carry on creating worlds, just as Chosen have done since their creation. You will enforce my rules as well, seeing as I can communicate with you. And, if the situation calls for it… I can Call on you to act as my vessel. </em>
</p><p>“Okay, I know about the whole world-creation and Calling, my dad’s a Chosen. But what do you mean by enforcing your rules?” He’d never heard his dad talk about enforcing the Tundra God’s rules, but maybe it was a personal thing he didn’t like to share.</p><p>
  <em> As the Goddess of Death and Balance, it’s my job to oversee the world-registered deaths of every world. I have to ensure people get to End at their time and don’t overstay their welcome in the world. As my Chosen, you will simply help me oversee that balance is being fulfilled in the worlds you visit and that other Chosen aren’t abusing their powers. </em>
</p><p>“That sounds fair. What happens if balance is thrown off?” The Goddess gave him a smoky smile, sharp teeth on full display.</p><p>
  <em> Blood for the Blood God, of course. </em>
</p><p>-</p><p>Returning to the mortal realm was like emerging from the ocean. Meaning that, at first, Techno forgot breathing was a necessity. He was laid out in the training yard, the moon high above him, the admin-crafted axe laying limp in his fingers.</p><p>“Techno! Technoblade!” The few moments he’d taken to gather his bearings and relearn the mechanics of breathing had been all it had taken for him to also hear the frantic shouts of his father and brother. His absence from his room had undoubtedly been realized, given the fact the Nether Goddess had added on extended time on his outdoor expedition.</p><p>He leaned up from the courtyard, having the strangest feeling that something was decidedly different, although he couldn’t place his finger on what exactly it was. He hefted the axe off the ground beside him and returned it to its proper case before he trekked back inside to stop his family from ordering a search party.</p><p>He’d made it all of twenty feet in the door before Wilbur spotted him, shouting for their dad first before barreling towards Techno with little time for him to brace himself for impact.</p><p>“Where did you go? One of the maids noticed your door open and you weren’t there and she alerted dad, and I overheard because the poor woman was yelling the whole way like she thought you’d died or something. Like she thought someone could just waltz into the castle and kill <em>you </em>and—” Wilbur only took a breath in his explanation when he finally got a good look at Techno, his eyebrows furrowed. “Why is your hair pink?”</p><p>Techno didn’t know how to respond to that, mostly because he hadn’t been aware his hair turned pink. But he was saved from stumbling through an awkward explanation when he was scooped up into the arms of his father like he weighed nothing. Phil’s wings wrapped tightly around Techno as well, like he was trying to hug him and squeeze the life out of him all at once.</p><p>“By the Gods, Techno! We were so worried, why did you run off?” Phil pulled back and in much the same fashion as Wilbur, seemed to double-take on the pink hair he now adorned instead of his usual brunet color to match Wilbur.</p><p>“So, I might have just been Chosen by the Nether Goddess.”</p><p>-</p><p>His family took the news surprisingly well, all things considered. Nether hadn’t Chosen in over 40 years because the last Chosen she had was a Blaze-Enhanced who’d… had his blaze rods removed and met an untimely end. She hadn’t been too eager to throw anymore Chosen out into the world to meet his similar fate.</p><p>When the Gods added Piglins to the Nether world as an evolved version of Pigmen, the Nether Goddess had apparently deemed that a fine Enhancement her Chosen could walk around with without the constant fear of being jumped and murdered. They’d been added when Techno was two, which had lined up with her story of watching him for a long time to Choose him at the right time.</p><p>“Dad, why can’t I have cool pink hair too?” Wilbur’s little pout did nothing for him, Phil ruffling his hair, and gesturing to the guitar beside the couch Wilbur was on.</p><p>“It wouldn’t match the songs you sing, Wil. But if you really want to… we could dye it?” Wilbur looked between his father and the guitar before reaching out and grabbing his instrument.</p><p>“I’ll stick to my sad songs and brown hair, thanks, dad. Techno can just be cool enough for both of us.” His grin was bright as he turned to Techno, who was rubbing his jaw like it was bothering him.</p><p>“All good, bud?” Phil asked and Techno gave a noncommittal grunt in response.</p><p>“Feels like… my mouth is crowded,” he slurred as he ran his tongue over his bottom row of teeth. “Don’t Piglins have tusks?” Phil nodded in response to his question, the man having spent enough time trading with them in the past years to know they had tusks protruding from the bottom row of teeth and resting outside their mouths above the top lip.</p><p>“Yeah, I think I’m growing tusks. Must’ve been another Enhancement,” Techno rubbed his jaw a final time before he leaned back in the chair he was sitting in and just going with the pain.</p><p>“And you get cool teeth? Being Chosen sounds so cool!” Wilbur strummed on his guitar some more, trying to find a melody that would go with ‘<em> To be Chosen is to be cursed, To be Called is to be freed’ </em>as was the motto of the Chosen.</p><p>“Is Tommy even going to recognize me?” Techno wondered aloud, unaware he hadn’t just thought it until Phil answered him.</p><p>“You still look like you, Techno. Tommy may be young but he’s not a baby, he’s nearly four, he’ll know who you are.” At least that was one less thing Techno had to worry about.</p><p>“Did you know your eyes turned red too?” Wilbur said as he abandoned finding the motto a melody and began strumming <em> Hot Cross Buns </em>instead. “Well, not like super red, but they aren’t green anymore. It’s more like a muddy brown with a hint of bright red in it, but it’d be cooler if you just said you had red eyes.”</p><p>“I’ll keep that in mind, Wilbur.”</p><p>-</p><p>Techno hadn’t wanted a big celebration for his eleventh birthday, and Wilbur was fine with indulging him in not having anything too big. “It’ll just be some of my friends at dinner, if you have anyone you want to invite you could, Techno.”</p><p>“Oh really, Wilbur? Who do I talk to besides our family and occasionally your friends?” Wilbur thought for a moment before shrugging.</p><p>“You could always invite Nether, but maybe that’s crossing into <em> big event </em>territory.” Techno rolled his eyes at his brother’s playful smile and shoved him lightly.</p><p>Dinner turned out to be a fine event. Phil, Tommy, and Wilbur were there obviously, but along with them Wilbur’s two castle staff friends he’d made were there too, Niki and Jonathan.</p><p>Niki was completely jealous, in a good way, of his pink hair, which she expressed through a soft-spoken, heavily accented voice. She worked down in the kitchens as one of the junior bakers and Wilbur had met her by complete accident when he went to bribe extra sweet rolls from the well-seasoned staff. Niki always made extra rolls now, knowing Wilbur would come to collect not long after.</p><p>Jonathan was a little brash like the man had a splinter he’d not been able to get out of his finger for a few years. But he didn’t seem to mind Tommy’s loud intrusions into conversations, instead giving the kid a smile in return, and Techno figured he was okay enough.</p><p>“Well, boys, I know this has been an eventful couple of weeks, but here are your presents!” Phil handed them each a small envelope, neatly wrapped with multiple layers of wrapping paper because he liked to make them suffer.</p><p>“No way… no way!” Wilbur shook the piece of paper around with glee as he finally tore it apart, and Techno looked down at his, read it, and matched his brother’s smile.</p><p>“A trip from home for a whole year? To any world?” Wilbur read out loud, Niki brightening at the idea of her friend off adventuring and playing music for the worlds.</p><p>“As long as you take castle-appointed guards with you, I’m giving you free-roam of the worlds for a year. But it doesn’t have to be this year if you want to wait, there’s no expiration date on traveling.”</p><p>Wilbur looked between his family and friends with glee on his face, Techno carefully maintaining his composure on the matter. His dad had given them access to the available worlds in the mortal realm, had given them freedom.</p><p>“If you don’t mind, dad, I’d like to take advantage of this and leave in about a month. It’ll be good for me to explore and do some things for Nether before I get too old and get tied down by the crown.” His dad gave him a knowing smile and nodded.</p><p>-</p><p>Techno had begun his trip in Hypixel, the central world, where newcomers always came, and people with no set world were free to roam and rent hotel rooms. As much as Techno didn’t want to draw attention to himself, the pink hair and tusks were a dead giveaway that something was off about him.</p><p>“Your Highness, if I may, you could always have a mask fashioned to cover the tusks?” One of the assistants said as they entered the market area. They’d brought quite a bit of fund to sustain their travels in the coming year, although Techno had plans to make his own money as well.</p><p>“Great idea, James,” Techno replied and walked over to the nearest clothing stand he saw. The woman behind the counter was a bit eccentric, her face covered in small hearts and her clothes composed of different patterns stitched together.</p><p>“Hello there! What can I do for you today?” Her voice matched her outfit and Techno had the momentary thought to walk away and find someone else. But that seemed rude, so he dismissed the thought as quickly as it came.</p><p>“Do you make masks?” He got straight to the point, voice monotone as he leveled his gaze at the woman.</p><p>“Oh yes, I do! I make half-masks and full-face masks, and anything in between if you can meet my price.” He was pretty confident that they could.</p><p>“Great, well in that case I’ll take two half-masks. One for the lower face to cover the mouth and nose, the other to cover the eyes and nose.” She nodded, writing down the size of the masks and muttering briefly to herself.</p><p>“Any special designs you want, hon?” Techno debated telling her to make them as plain as possible but felt he’d get bored looking at them himself if it came to it.</p><p>“Style them around pigs. Take that as you will, I’ll leave it up to your imagination to do the work.” She grinned and wrote a few more notes before tearing the paper off and reading off the total to him. It didn’t even put a dent in what they’d brought, James, pulling one of the money bags from his inventory and pulling the correct total plus an extra diamond token. “Keep the change.”</p><p>She thanked them profusely and told them to be back the next day for the masks, insisting to have them done by then instead of her usual 3-day period. Techno figured it was probably because of the bonus.</p><p>They laid low for the remainder of the day, browsing some of the food stands. Techno allowed the guards to tease him about how he’d sworn off eating pig the moment he’d grown his tusks. Even though he was only 11 he still felt like they were including him and treating him like he was grown.</p><p>They picked up the masks the next morning, Techno putting on the lower-face one and once again thanking the shop owner. She blushed, showing off the blue hearts on her cheeks today, and bid them goodbye with a bright smile.</p><p>Both of them had been well made, high quality for something that came from a small shop in Central Hypixel. Both had the same pink color used to make the base. The lower mask had been shaped and molded to show off a pig’s mouth in a small smirk, and a snout that would go over the nose. The upper mask in comparison also had a snout over the nose but it was molded to show fake eyebrows and pig ears that drooped over the hairline of the mask.</p><p>Techno wanted to join the MCC Tournaments. He knew he was too young, he had to be 16 to enter, but that didn’t stop him from wanting it. So he dragged the guards to the stands to watch the challenges and told them in whispers how he’d stand in that champions podium one day.</p><p>“Your Highness, look what we found!” Isabelle, the other guard accompanying him, yelled as she waved a flyer in his direction. He raised an eyebrow at her enthusiasm and she shoved the paper in his face as she reached him. And he was supposed to be the child here.</p><p>“I’ve told you both, you call me Techno or Technoblade while we’re on this trip. I don’t need to worry about possible assassination attempts anymore than I already do.” She grinned sheepishly at him and he turned his attention down to the flyer.</p><p><em> MCC Junior League Tournaments! </em> The headline of the flyer was in bold, the time and date indicating it would take place the next day starting at high noon. <em> Ages 10-15! </em>And Techno met the age requirement.</p><p>“Well, well, well, what a find. Looks like we’ve got plans tomorrow, guys!” James and Isabelle cheered as Techno grinned beneath the mask.</p><p>Techno had decided to wear the upper mask for the day, showing off the tusks. His hair was long enough for Isabelle to pull back in a small bun, a smaller section of his hair braided and tied up in the bun.</p><p>He stood in a row of competitors come high noon. The eldest down at the far left and the youngest at the far right. Techno was one of the four in his age group, out of the 17 total competing.</p><p>“You’re all here today because you want to know how the big leagues are, is that it? We can only have one winner, which of you will it be? Grab your weapons!” At the command, most of the kids sprinted for the table in front of them holding various weapons. Techno waited for a brief moment before casually walking to the table and picking up the crossbow.</p><p>Most children weren’t trained with crossbows, only regular bows if even that, but Techno had demanded to learn any weapon he could in his fighting classes, and crossbows were the weapons of the Piglins. Nearly all of the swords had been cleared from the table, a couple of wooden ones and a rusted iron all that was left. He dismissed those in favor of the stone axe and iron pickaxe left abandoned. Finally, he fastened a shield to his non-dominant arm and turned to face his opponents with the crossbow in hand.</p><p>The Tournament overseer glanced at Techno, seeing as he was the last at the table, before clapping his glowing orange hands and letting the scene change around them.</p><p>It settled on a grassy field, a bridge separating the two teams everyone had been placed between. “Your job for this challenge is to reach the center of the bridge and fill the 3 by 3 square with your color. The first team to do so wins, we will have 3 rounds with teams switching each time. Round one begins… now!”</p><p>A blonde girl from the other side sprinted from her hiding place behind the bridge at the call. Techno barely glanced at her as he lodged an arrow in her stomach. She disappeared into respawn mist with a gasp, appearing in her team’s glass box housing the fallen.</p><p>His team looked at him with their own mixed emotions, probably admiration but also dread at the fact they could be the next one he took down. He looked at them with a small look of annoyance as none of them made a move for the bridge.</p><p>“What are you waiting for? If you wait around here then this’ll be an easy win for them.” He shot another opposing member who’d tried to crawl out of their space in his peripherals.</p><p>His team took that as their cue and they all rushed forward towards the bridge. A couple were taken down by the other team’s members who’d taken their own bows, but their shots were sloppy and took a couple of shots to stick the kill.</p><p>His team won easily that round, James and Isabelle cheering in the stands above the arena where they watched. Techno sent them a brief salute as the jersey color changed on him, teaming him with new people.</p><p>Unfortunately—or fortunately depending on how you look at it—it was another quick round where Techno’s team dominated. The overseeing admin had even made sure to put the extra person on the other team as if knowing they would need all the help they could against Techno.</p><p>The third round was the quickest, Techno himself rushed the middle of the bridge with the entire other team trying to take him on with no luck. His other teammates were in awe of his skills, seeing how the majority of them competing were older and thus, should be more experienced.</p><p>The second challenge in the Tournaments was a parkour race. If you fell into the void you respawned at the nearest checkpoint you had passed, and the five people who made it furthest down the map at the end of ten minutes would rank accordingly.</p><p>Techno hadn’t done parkour during his time at the castle, he knew how to use walls to get out of tricky situations in battles. But here there were no walls, just pillars over the void that were designed to test the limits. So instead of rushing in, he spent the first minute observing the older competitors maneuver through the beginning sections.</p><p>He took off from the starting platform with ease, drifting over the ladders’ edges and grass chunk checkpoints. He caught up to the returnees in barely three minutes, leaving him plenty of time to piggyback off their techniques and tweak them to his advantage.</p><p>In the end, he got third, which he was happy about. The two in front of him were a 14-year-old blue-haired girl and a 15-year-old brunet boy, in 1st and 2nd respectively. They congratulated him on his success before the scene changed under their feet for the final time.</p><p>“Welcome to the battle arena, competitors! This is your final challenge in these Tournaments. We’ve seen some exceptional talent today, we hope to have you all return to compete in the Junior or Senior Comps in the coming years.”</p><p>The rules of the arena were simple, at least to Techno. Don’t die. Okay, so it went a little bit beyond that, with rules about how one respawn equaled an exit from the arena and how the only weapons that could be used were the ones picked up at the beginning of the Tournaments, dead opponents weapons would despawn with them.</p><p>Techno looked at the Champions Podium, showing off holograms of their persons who’d performed best in the arena so far. Techno sat comfortably at the #1 spot, arms crossed, mask ears flopped over, and smirking at anyone who looked back at him. He’d registered as <em> The Blade </em>in an effort to distance himself from his kingdom, knowing people would be butt-hurt he was trained from a young age. Perhaps he should have picked up a sword… weird name for someone that went with a pickaxe instead. Oh well, what could you do?</p><p>When the firework went off to signal the battle had begun he was surprised they didn’t all pile on him first. Perhaps he’d gained their respect… or made them fear him so much they wouldn’t think to do it straight off the bat.</p><p>The arena was a circle platform with no barrier keeping people from dropping into the lava if they were pushed off. Techno kept towards the middle, never leaving his back turned on an area for more than a second.</p><p>The youngest had been picked off first, the 10-year-olds and the 3 others who’d shared his age. One of the 12-year-old was currently teamed with a 13-year-old against a duo of 15-year-olds, not realizing how close to the edge they were until their screams were cut off by the lava below.</p><p><em> Scared. Scared. Look at them. All scared. Scared of you. Blood for the Blood God! </em> He stopped at the sudden rush of voices in his head, headless whispers from all directions. <em> My connection to you seems to have gained some interference, hopefully, they won’t bother you too much. </em>Okay, so it was Nether then.</p><p>“Is anyone going to fight me? Or am I going to have to do all the hard work myself?” He baited the remaining competitors, some stopping their current fights to look at him briefly. A girl, wearing green to signal she was 14, shrugged and indulged his challenge. “Finally.”</p><p>It was an admittedly short battle between them. Techno side-stepped the girl’s first swing at him before he used the pickaxe to wrap around her wrist and swing her in his direction. “Axe or arrow? I’ll let you take your pick.” The girl growled and attempted to swipe at his legs but Techno merely moved his shield down to block her swing.</p><p>“Axe it is,” he grinned, showing off the full extent of his tusks, as the pickaxe in his hand switched to an axe. He kicked her back and watched her stumble for a moment before he swung the axe into her side and watched the mist claim her.</p><p>He made quick work of two more boys before getting down to the final two. Himself versus <em> Pokimane</em>. Her green band signaled she was 14 and she sat in 2nd on the Podium below him. It truly was down to the best.</p><p>“I have to say, even I wasn’t as good as you at your age. The hair is quite the statement too, you are some person, Blade.” He returned some compliments to her, commending her on the quick work she’d made of the remaining competitors.</p><p>When they finally began their fight Techno had the brief thought that this girl was royal too. But he dismissed it, knowing if that were the case she would have already bested him after her continued training. They matched easily in skill, and Techno knew it just meant he had the potential to grow in the coming years.</p><p>It was the pickaxe that got her in the end, hooking her in the thigh as he used the momentum to throw her towards the side of the platform near the lava. “GG, Blade. I hope to see you next year.” He grinned and said he wouldn’t miss it before casually pushing her off the side, signaling the end.</p><p>With him as the winner.</p><p>-</p><p>“Ready to go back home, your highness?” James whispered as they came to the central district of Hypixel, the only location where world-hopping was accessible.</p><p>“As ready as I’ll ever be,” Techno replied. His hair was pulled back in a small braid done by Isabelle, and he wore his lower mask to stop the stares he’d get from his tusks as they walked through Hypixel.</p><p>It didn’t stop all the stares, however, since Techno had become somewhat of a legend around Central and Northern Hypixel. His skill as <em> The Blade </em>nearly a year ago in the MCC Junior Tournaments had meant more fans. Some of the people he’d competed against had approached him in the following months, asking for tips on how to better their form with a sword, or basic tricks with crossbows.</p><p>Techno hadn’t given away all his secrets, but he’d been willing to let a few tips drop here and there, understanding they were just pursuing their dreams.</p><p>Even if he wouldn’t admit it aloud, he was more than ready to go back to the castle and see his family. The trouble with hopping worlds meant means of communication became hard to find or just too tasking to put up with. So it had been a year since he’d heard from his father, from his brothers, from anyone in the Antarctic Empire outside of James and Isabelle.</p><p>Yeah, going home would be nice.</p><p>“Techno, they’re dialing up the world code now, the portal is going to open in a minute,” Isabelle said as she walked back from giving the overseeing admin their destination.</p><p>No later than she had stopped beside him did the obsidian portal spring to life in front of him. Instead of the deep purple color that indicated a trip to the Nether the portal glowed an icy blue that resembled Phil’s eyes.</p><p>He walked through without taking a final look at Hypixel, determined he’d be back in just a few months to compete in the Junior Comp again, although with an admittedly shorter stay.</p><p>The portal had dropped them off right outside the castle, in the walled-in courtyard separating the castle from the village. The walls had been refurbished and made stronger after the pillager attack from his childhood.</p><p>“Techno! You’re home!” In a flurry of movements involving a spilled stack of (probably important) papers and one twin brother, Techno found himself in the crushing embrace of Wilbur. “I knew it would be soon, but no one really knew what day you’d come back!” His brother pulled back from the hug to look at Techno, taking in the braided hair and the mask he was still wearing over his tusks.</p><p>“Dad’s in the library with the boys, trying to get them into reading young. You know how he was with us,” Wilbur rambled on as he dragged Techno through the castle halls, none the wiser that his brother was only half-listening to him.</p><p>“Wait, Wilbur, did you say <em> boys</em>, as in more than just Tommy?” They’d reached the doors to the library as the words settled on Techno. Wilbur turned to him in slight confusion before brightening up and just nodding as he pushed the doors open.</p><p>“Look who’s home!” Wilbur’s shout had alerted their presence to the three occupying the room. Phil stood up immediately at the sight of him, his wings stretching out from where they’d been pressed behind him as he sat.</p><p>“Techno, look how much you’ve grown!” His dad hugged him with the same enthusiasm Wilbur had and Techno determined it was the whole ‘being gone for a year’ thing because they weren’t usually this clingy with affection.</p><p>“Indeed, I’ve returned. Now, is someone going to explain to me why there’s a small ram hybrid sitting with Tommy, or am I going to have to make my own assumptions?”</p><p>Before Phil or Wilbur could think of an appropriate response, said ram hybrid hopped down from the chair he was sharing with Tommy, walked up to Techno with a bright smile on his face, and stuck out his hand.</p><p>“Hi, I’m Tubbo! I’m your new brother!”</p><p>
  <em> What the hell had he missed? </em>
</p><p>-</p><p>“So a month after I leave you just find him <em> in a box </em> on the steps outside the castle and decide to adopt him?” Phil and Wilbur nodded. He had taken off his mask at this point and leveled them both with one of his signature looks. “And no one ever came back to claim him?”</p><p>“He was abandoned, Techno. I couldn’t just put him in the village foster system after finding him on my doorstep.” Techno gave him a bewildered look.</p><p>“You most certainly could have. There were more options than adopting him, dad.” Wilbur had sunk in his seat slightly as the two went back and forth around him.</p><p>“Why does it matter, Technoblade? Do you have a problem with Tubbo or something?” Techno and Phil both stopped their bickering to look over at Wilbur, still scowling at the table instead of them.</p><p>Did he have a problem with the little ram hybrid? No, he didn’t. He was just a kid who’d been dropped on their doorstep and his dad, whose heart was too big, just adopted him. But so soon after he’d left… Techno couldn’t help but feel replaced. Sue him for being jealous.</p><p>“Of course not, he’s a child. That’s like asking if I have a problem with Tommy. You know, it’s been a long day, so I think I’m going to unpack and rest.” As he started to walk away he heard Phil call out behind him.</p><p>“Are you coming down for dinner?” He didn’t know the answer, so he didn’t say anything and just kept walking.</p><p>He hadn’t gone to his room, hadn’t even gone to the Wing where his room was. He went out to the backyard instead, looking out at the training fields in the distance and the pool in the other direction.</p><p>“They’re all so happy you’re home,” a small voice said from beside him. He turned to find Tubbo sitting down on the same step as him. “Even Tommy, I know he hasn’t said it yet, but he’s really really happy you’re back. He tells me stories about you, his brother Technoblade, who had pink hair and tusks like a Piglin.”</p><p>“How old are you?” The kid sounded too wise for the small body he had. Tubbo held up four fingers in response to his question.</p><p>“I’ll be five in a month! Five is a big deal, that’s what my daddy used to tell me.” The kid looked sad for a moment before letting another smile take over his face.</p><p>“Look, a lily!” Tubbo bounced down the remaining steps and plucked the lily from its current residence. When he looked back up at Techno with the flower in his hands all Techno could think of was the ram hybrid gardener Wilbur had befriended before he left.</p><p>“My daddy’s favorite flowers are hy-hydrangeas. He told me a funny story about how when he was little one of the people in the castle didn’t know the difference between those and Chinese snowballs even though they are completely different!”</p><p>He went to tell the kid he had no idea what either of those flowers was when Tubbo rushed back up the stairs and handed him the lily. “A welcome home present.”</p><p>Maybe having another brother wouldn’t be so bad.</p><p>-</p><p>“I’ve decided to take my year-long trip this year,” was how Wilbur opened up dinner conversations that night. By 16 he’d grown into the casual look he’d been working towards since he was a child, adorning yellow sweaters and burgundy beanies as he played guitar for the villages below the castle.</p><p>“About time. I’ve had you beat for 5 years, brother, I thought you’d never take advantage of it,” Techno too had grown in the past 5 years. His hair when left down easily reached the middle of his shoulder blades and he’d perfected his monotone voice.</p><p>“It’s cause Wilby’s got a girlfriend!” Tommy piped up, the 9-year-old having a devious look on his face as Wilbur turned to him with a murderous one. “Tubbo and I overheard you tell Niki about her. ‘Sally this’ and ‘Sally that’ and ‘Oh Niki, should I write her a song?’” Both of the younger boys broke out into fits of giggles as Wilbur’s face darkened with a blush.</p><p>“Heathens, the both of you. You should be thankful I don’t have Techno call up Nether to unleash poisonous snakes in your beds while you sleep.” Techno, who’d drifted out of the conversation once the <em>voices</em>, as he called them, came back in low whispers looked up with an ‘ehh?’ on the matter but not much beyond that.</p><p>“Wilbur, you don’t have to be embarrassed about liking someone. It was bound to happen eventually, seeing as you aren’t Techno.” He didn’t even respond to that one, trying to pick out what the voices were conversing about. “You should invite her to dinner before you leave, perhaps in a couple of days?”</p><p>“Yeah, I think I’ll do that.”</p><p>-</p><p>No one was really expecting the girl Wilbur brought two nights later. Sally was… something to say the least.</p><p>She had bright auburn hair that fell to her mid-back in tight ringlets, freckles were splattered over the entirety of her face and she had piercing blue eyes that were the color of the deep sea. The most surprising thing about her wasn’t that she was ginger however, it was the salmon-colored scales that trailed up her arms and neck that made Techno’s voices halt in their tracks.</p><p>A Siren. She wasn’t an Ocean Chosen and she wasn’t a fish hybrid, she was something rarer and much more fascinating. Sirens were the result of the Old Gods’ descendants mixing with Ocean Chosen, raw magic added with new tame magic made a whole new breed of person.</p><p>The vast majority of Sirens were harmless, living out their days vicariously in traveling bands or living in the ocean in their sea form. Techno had read how wars were started over Siren songs, they used their unrestrained magic to bend the will of men.</p><p>But Sally didn’t seem like she wanted to bring a war to their kingdom. She had a flute strapped to her belt along with a small coin purse, giving off the impression she was buying casually from the markets.</p><p>“It’s so good to meet you all!” her smile was pretty, even Techno could admit to that, “Wilbur told me so much about you while we chatted in the plaza.”</p><p>Well, that answered how they had met at least. Wilbur frequented the village with his guitar, the same one their mother had once played and he’d started to play in therapy all those years ago to cope with losing her. Sally was probably traveling with a band and playing in the plaza where the rest of the musicians gathered.</p><p>“We’re excited to meet you as well, Sally. Won’t you come and sit, they’ll bring the dinner plates momentarily.” Sally and Wilbur made their way to the table, intertwined hands swinging between them. Tommy and Tubbo looked bored all things considered, the idea of love so off-putting for both young boys. Techno, if it was even possible, looked even more bored and uninterested in their guest than the two younger ones.</p><p>As the covered plates were brought to the table Techno had the horrible thought that they were going to be having fish, but when the staff lifted the coverings he was instead greeted by grilled chicken for him and smoked ham for the rest of those dining. He would have preferred the fish.</p><p>“—so I’m going to spend the year with Sally in her homeworld, she’s going to show me all her favorite sights from when she was growing up. You won’t even realize it’s been a year, it’ll be over as quick as it was with Techno!” Wilbur looked so happy talking about his trip with Sally, the Siren looking lovingly at his brother in return.</p><p>“Maybe if you both aren’t too busy you can come and see me compete in the MCC Tournaments this year,” he mentioned offhandedly, not wanting them to know he’d like for his twin brother to be there and support him.</p><p>“Great idea, Tech! Yeah, it’s in July right? That’ll give us plenty of time to schedule around it.” The slight tension in Techno’s shoulders fell away at Wilbur’s words and he went back to eating his chicken and trying to shut the voices up again.</p><p>Dinner went smoothly, all things considered, Tommy and Tubbo didn’t try to start a food fight and Techno participated in the conversations when he needed to, it was nice. When the staff came to clear away the plates everyone said their goodbyes to Sally and watched as Wilbur led her from the dining room to see her to the front door.</p><p>“Something tells me she’ll be good for him,” Phil whispered to Techno as the door closed behind the young couple. Techno looked at his dad and just hummed in agreement.</p><p>-</p><p>“Your Highness, there’s a letter from the king of Westerly for you.” Techno looked up from the book he was reading to level the messenger with a bored expression. <em> Don’t shoot the messenger. </em>He didn’t know whether he was thinking of the expression or if it was the voices saying that.</p><p>“I’ll take it now, thank you.” The messenger girl scurried over to him and dropped the letter into his awaiting hands. She bowed before departing the room quickly, leaving the library to him once more.</p><p>It had been a couple of months since Wilbur left with Sally, Tommy had turned 10, and he and Tubbo had yelled the whole day about how they were both “double digits” and “big men”.</p><p>He looked down to the elegant script on the front of the letter. <em> Crown Prince Technoblade Minecraft of the Antarctic Empire. </em>It was addressed from the king of Westerly just as the messenger had said. He opened it and scanned the contents of the letter, furrowed his brows, and reread it.</p><p>
  <em> Prince Technoblade, </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Your skill as a tracker and warrior is rivaled by few in this day and age which is why I formally invite you to the Westerly Castle to accompany my best guards in search of the stronghold. It has been our goal for the past decade to find the End Portal and kill the Ender Dragon, with your expertise we could see to it that our dreams are accomplished sooner rather than later. I have other means of acquiring the location of the stronghold, but I would like to save those as a last resort. Please arrive at the castle in 72 hours if you accept my invite. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> King Arschloch of Westerly </em>
</p><p>He sat down the book and made his way out of the library, figuring Phil would know what the best thing would be for him to do. When he found his father reviewing documents in his office he tossed the letter down without a word.</p><p>Phil gave him a confused look as he picked up the letter and read it for himself. He scoffed and tossed the paperback on the desk as he turned his gaze on Techno.</p><p>“The arrogance of that man. First, he calls dibs on my already married wife, and now he invites you on a tracker excursion to find the Ender Dragon? I hate the king of Westerly as much as the next Chosen, but it might be good for you to go there.”</p><p>Techno frowned, “You want me to go be paraded around by some arrogant king? If I wanted that I’d go spend time in Revelia.”</p><p>“That’s not what I want at all, but you can lead them in the wrong direction. It’s not wise for them to deliberately seek out the Ender Dragon to kill it, the End Goddess is not going to take that well. If you can deter him for a little while he might give up or be persuaded to put his excursions on hold.”</p><p>“And who’s to say he won’t resort to those ‘other means’ he mentioned? Is that a threat against the Empire?” Phil looked back at the king’s messy scrawl and shook his head.</p><p>“I don’t think it’s against us, or any kingdom for that matter, but I’d hate to know what that man would do to get what he wants.”</p><p>Techno departed for Westerly the next morning, opening the portal himself and waltzing into the throne room like he owned the place.</p><p>“Prince Technoblade! How wonderful, you accepted the invitation!” The king sat upon his throne looking to all the world like he would like to never move from there.</p><p>“I figured it would be nice to get out of the snow for a change,” Techno drawled, twirling the sword he’d forged last winter and named the <em> Orphan Obliterator </em>around his hand nonchalantly.  </p><p>“Oh yes, of course, with your world being dominantly an icy tundra biome I’m sure seeing snow-free grounds is as much a motivation as anything.” Techno had worn his upper face mask for the sole purpose that it made it difficult for the king to see him roll his eyes at him.</p><p>“Well, since you’ve already arrived, would you like to begin your travels now?” Techno nodded and the king snapped his fingers. A dozen men flanked Techno’s sides and he involuntarily tensed at the way they’d surrounded him. <em> No fear, Blade. Play it cool. </em>He let the tension fall away at the Goddess’ voice.</p><p>“We’ll start in the South, there’s a high concentration of power in that direction.” He told the king and watched as his expression soured slightly. What was this man hiding?</p><p>“Any other direction?” Techno huffed under his breath and concentrated on the power of the land, the small vibrations that signaled power, and where they were coming from. All South.</p><p>“Nope, we start in the South. If it changes then we change with it, any problems?” The king gave a tight-lipped smile and shook his head. “Good, then we leave now.”</p><p>Techno was going to lead them on a wild goose chase… after he figured out what the king was hiding in the Southern region of his kingdom. It was too close to the castle, although still a good distance away, for it to be the stronghold and them not have found it, so it had to be something else.</p><p>As they sailed the Southern coast he spotted something. Flying above the trees with a pair of dragon wings, heading towards the Southern tip of the coast. An End Chosen, that the king knew about, curse the Fates.</p><p><em> Poor kid. </em>Nether whispered as she too saw him fly, Techno didn’t want to know what she knew.</p><p>The power concentration got stronger leading out to the middle of the ocean, but Techno wasn’t going to let himself be led to the middle of nowhere with a dozen of the most crooked men in this kingdom.</p><p>“I’m afraid the trail went cold, men. If you’d turn West it seems there is something far off in the distance in that direction.” The guards grumbled as they worked as if this wasn’t their job.</p><p>As they sailed from the stronghold and the End Chosen boy Techno wondered what was going to happen in this kingdom because of his choices.</p><p>He stayed four days before returning to the castle empty-handed. “The power of your land is too evenly spread, it’s likely the portal is too far away for me to pick up on it properly.”</p><p>The king slumped in his seat and Techno thought he was pouting, but when Techno opened the portal back to the Antarctic Empire he didn’t protest him leaving.</p><p>-</p><p>“Wilbur is coming back today!” Tommy yelled excitedly as he shook Tubbo around, the older boy giggling at his adopted brother’s antics. They hadn’t seen Wilbur since July when he and Sally came to watch Techno’s first MCC Tournament.</p><p>He’d looked older, more mature, in just a couple of months of Sally’s presence. They both looked so happy together, a young couple in love. But they also had looked nervous and wouldn’t tell anyone why.</p><p>But Wilbur was coming back today, Sally was going to stay for a couple of days before going back to her world, but she and Wilbur didn’t plan on breaking up. They were going to make long-distance work… they had to.</p><p>Phil opened the rift between the worlds so they could travel when they wanted to, he’d opened it from Sally’s home to the castle grounds so only they should come through.</p><p>It was that evening when the portal glowed the bright icy blue of their world and Wilbur stepped through with Sally. Techno took one look at the two and the closing portal behind them before he gestured for them to follow. “You two have a lot of explaining to do.”</p><p>Techno led them to the gardens where Phil was demonstrating meditation poses to Tommy and Tubbo. He cleared his throat to catch their attention and they all turned to the new group that had joined them.</p><p>“Wilby! You’re home!” Tommy threw himself at his brother, taking no notice of the suddenly tense atmosphere between the couple and Phil and Techno. Wilbur grinned down at his youngest brother and picked him up in a spin, hugging him tightly.</p><p>“I think we should take this discussion inside,” Phil said as he led the group back into the castle. Wilbur put Tommy back on the ground, ruffled Tubbo’s hair, and grabbed Sally’s hand before walking back after his dad.</p><p>“So how long has it been since we last saw you, Wilbur?” Phil began when they reached the library, everyone piling in except Tommy and Tubbo who were told to stay and play in the gardens.</p><p>“We saw you in July, at Techno’s competition, where he became the first 16-year-old to win since <em> LDShadowLady </em>.” Phil turned a sharp look on his son.</p><p>“You know that isn’t what I mean, Wil. How long has it been?” Wilbur didn’t reply, the words not coming out of his mouth.</p><p>“Two years,” Sally whispered. The other three turned to look at her as she cradled the sleeping baby in her arms. “Neptuna doesn’t run on the same clock as most worlds, the admin slows and speeds up time whenever he feels like it. We had Fundy… three months ago by your time, but he’s almost a year old. It wasn’t so off when we came in July, two weeks difference at most, but then the admin got bored and threw us out of sync. We didn’t realize until I had Fundy that Wilbur’s year should have been up, but we still had three months to go and the admin pushed ten months in that time.”</p><p>It was too much to process. Phil had sat down in his usual chair, the voices were cackling in Techno’s head at Wilbur’s misfortune, and Wilbur and Sally sat quietly across from them with their son. Oh, Gods, Wilbur was a father, and now he was technically the Crown Prince of the Empire, and Techno was quietly spiraling.</p><p>“Don’t get me wrong, I’m so happy for you two. I’m a grandfather! It’s just a shock for your son to come back a year older than he’s supposed to be.” He gave them both soft smiles which they tentatively returned.</p><p><em> No longer Crown Prince. Now you’re the backup. He won’t need a backup, he has a child. Good riddance to the future of King Technoblade. His career was over before it began. </em>The voices all cackled in delight at his misery, Techno wanting nothing more than to slay the disembodied voices in his head and make them stay gone.</p><p>“Excuse me, I need to leave,” he registered himself saying as he stood from the chair he was sitting in. The occupants in the room shot him concerned looks as he all but ran to the door of the library. “Congrats on the baby!” he remembered to say before the door slammed shut behind him.</p><p><em> Technoblade, you need to calm down. </em> Nether’s voice had replaced the others but it didn’t him stop walking. <em> Think things through yourself, do not be swayed by the thoughts of those long forgotten. </em>But how could he think about anything except the fact Wilbur was now 19 instead of 17 and he had a child to take the throne after him. Techno wasn’t needed, he was—he was—</p><p>A hand came to rest lightly on his shoulder. He scrambled to look up at who had touched him, he didn’t even know when he’d fallen on the ground but here he was, staring up at the figure of his younger—no, older—twin brother. Wilbur sat down in front of him, keeping his hands up where Techno could see them so he wouldn’t panic further.</p><p>“Techno, you need to breathe.” His voice was stern and clear, more clear than Nether’s even though she was a Goddess who radiated authority and respect. When his breathing had slowed, Wilbur exaggerating his breathing to force Techno to match, Wilbur spoke again.</p><p>“Let’s talk through this, tell me what’s wrong?” Techno shook his head, dismissing the question. How could he tell his brother that his identity was being uprooted because of Wilbur’s actions because he fell in love with a girl from a time-warp world?</p><p>Wilbur sent him a stern look that said ‘this isn’t up for debate’ and Techno sighed. “You’re older than me now,” he whispered. Wilbur furrowed his brows, not putting the picture together.</p><p>“I don’t follow, Tech.”</p><p>“You’re older than me now. You’re the oldest heir, so now you’re the Crown Prince of the Antarctic Empire. And you have Fundy to take the throne if you die, so I’ve lost it.” Wilbur gripped his brother’s hand, his heart hurting at the way his brother was speaking.</p><p>“Lost what?” Techno looked at him with tears swimming in his eyes.</p><p>“Myself. Who I am. If I’m not the Crown Prince I don’t know who I am.” Wilbur hugged him tightly, trying to hold his brother together with just his hug.</p><p>“You’re Technoblade, the fiercest warrior this generation has seen, and you’re my brother. And I’m not going to take your crown, I don’t want to be king, and I was <em> born </em> second, time warps be damned.”</p><p>When Techno and Wilbur came back to the library neither Sally nor Phil mentioned the dried tears still shining on both their cheeks. And when Wilbur handed Fundy over to Techno to hold him and the tiny fox hybrid blinked up at him with big eyes, Techno felt like everything would be okay.</p><p>-</p><p>Techno was twenty when he met the infamous Dream. He hadn’t competed in last year’s MCC Tournament giving the up-and-coming masked teen a straight road to victory. He’d been the talk of Hypixel when Techno returned for his now monthly visit, James and Isabelle tagging along like they always had.</p><p>“Technoblade! Have you heard of Dream? Why didn’t you compete in the Tournaments? Did you know he was going to be there? Did you let him win?” He was swarmed the moment he stepped from the portal. People were asking question after question and he gave them no answers as he continued forward.</p><p>“I have places to be, things to do. Leave me alone!” He waved a hand as if shooing flies away and watched as the fans grumbled and protested but eventually left.</p><p>He turned to James swiftly. “Send our friend a private message, see if he wants to meet somewhere.” James nodded before pulling out his communicator and typing a quick message.</p><p>The reply came minutes later as the prince and his guards walked Central Hypixel, giving off the impression that they knew what they were doing. <em> Down in the Eastern region, Sapnap will find you. </em></p><p>Isabelle looked at the reply over James’ shoulder. “What’s a Sapnap?” The two boys shrugged but continued to the Eastern region nonetheless.</p><p>“Technoblade, I presume?” A boy with black hair and a white headband said as they entered the Eastern sector. The two guards stepped forward for a moment as Techno nodded and the unnamed boy walked towards him.</p><p>He held out his hand as he reached them, showing off his black painted nails and his boyish grin. “I’m Sapnap, Dream sent me.” The guards stepped back at that confirmation and Techno shook Sapnap’s hand.</p><p>The group of four walked the streets of Eastern Hypixel, Sapnap and his guards chatting enough to make up for Techno’s silence. They walked for a few more minutes before Sapnap stopped in front of what was seemingly an abandoned warehouse.</p><p>“Oh honey, I’m home!” Sapnap cackled as he pulled open the door. In the middle of the warehouse, there was a couch and a small television, set on a camera feed no doubt showing the door Sapnap was pulling open. Two people sat on the aforementioned couch, one masked and wearing a green hoodie and the other decked out in a blue jumper with clout goggles resting on top of his head.</p><p>“Shut the door, you idiot,” the blue one said, surprising Techno with his British accent. Techno’s whole family had British accents except him, he didn’t know if it was the year with James and Isabelle, who were both American, or if the constant stream of American voices coming through his head every day courtesy of Nether had knocked the British out of his voice.</p><p>“Technoblade, wow, it’s such an honor. I was super disappointed last year when I won and didn’t see you competing, a total blow. Everyone kept saying I never would have won with you there, but I would have just been happy to meet you.”</p><p>“I’ve heard about you too, Dream. You suddenly show up two years ago into the Tournaments with no previous training or battles. Even I did Juniors before I went to the big leagues.”</p><p>Techno could almost feel the grin under the boy’s mask, him laying back casually on the couch with his arms thrown behind his head. “What can I say, natural talent.”</p><p>Okay, if the boy wanted to think that Techno wasn’t going to take it from him. There was something familiar about Dream though, not in a sense that he’d ever met him before, but he knew who he was. There was so much power radiating from the boy, it was hard to imagine people hadn’t jumped him in the warehouse already… and yet Techno hadn’t felt his presence until he walked in, so the outside walls probably had power suppressors built into them.</p><p>Where had he felt that power before? <em> Here or there, up or down, by the sea by the land. </em> If you aren’t going to be helpful voices, you can go away. <em> Tough. </em></p><p>“I’m looking forward to beating you this year in the Tournaments, Technoblade.”</p><p>“We’ll see about that, Dream.”</p><p>-</p><p>Techno and Wilbur both had their own private offices by the time they turned 23. Techno took complete advantage of the seclusion away from his now 16-year-old brothers, choosing to hide away and read mythology books instead.</p><p>“Prince Technoblade, you have a letter from Dream.” He took the letter from the messenger boy and looked at the front. <em> Technoblade ;) Antarctic Empire. </em>Leave it to his masked rival/friend to dismiss formalities.</p><p>
  <em> Techno, </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Happy Birthday to me! Okay, so you’re probably curious what this is for since the Tournaments were a month ago. Well… this is my formal invitation for you and your family to join my SMP. It’s just been me, George, and Sapnap for five years in the world and it’s getting lonely. Don’t worry, this isn’t me telling you to drop your kingdom or anything, it can just be your vacation destination (hah that rhymed) if that’s what you want. I’m inviting more people than just you guys, just a heads up if you decide to come. I’ve attached the world code on a separate sheet in the envelope, I figured you or King Philza could get it to work. And believe me when I say I understand family isn’t always blood, so feel free to bring anyone else you want. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Dream </em>
</p><p>The world code sheet was pulled out of the envelope and Techno walked out of his office. “Family meeting!” He called out, leaving it to the staff walking around to deliver the message.</p><p>Once the family was gathered in the library, their designated meet spot, they all turned to Techno. “What’s the meeting for, Techno?” Tommy asked and Techno stood from his chair waving Dream’s letter.</p><p>“Well Tommy, I just got a letter from Dream inviting us all to his SMP. Wilbur, tell Niki to pack her bags, see if Fundy wants to come with us, I leave in three days. I’m ready for a vacation.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I'm back! If you've read the first work in this series or if you are a new reader, hi! I did not expect this to take as long as it did but school got in the way of my usual writing time so often, I hope the next one doesn't take as long to come out. Next up is either a Fundy-centric or Drista-centric fic. I hope you guys enjoyed this, it kind of spiraled again and the story wrote itself, but I love it all the same. Much love &lt;3</p></blockquote></div></div>
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